"Mormons": Their Origins and Relationship to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

BYU Studies Quarterly

Volume 40 Issue 1 Article 2

1-1-2001

Russia's Other "Mormons": Their Origins and Relationship to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Eric A. Eliason

Gary Browning

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Recommended Citation Eliason, Eric A. and Browning, Gary (2001) "Russia's Other "Mormons": Their Origins and Relationship to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 40 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol40/iss1/2

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Eliason and Browning: Russia's Other "Mormons": Their Origins and Relationship to The C

FIG i nineteenth century ggegravee markers in a cemetery by mekhzavod village which is near samara in southern russia locals and latter day saint missionaries have tradi- tionallytionallynaily called markers with this peaked roof design mormon crosses despite the fact that the church was not officially established in russia until over one hundred years after these buburialsrials all photographs courtesy of the authors

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russians other Morcormonsmormonsmormons55mons their origins and relationship to the church of jesus christ of latter day saints

eric A eliason and gary browning

in 1990 when the church of jesus christ of latter day saints established its first mission in russia the missionaries there almost immediately began hearing and passing on stories from native russians about long established mormon communities already there 1 whole tribes of native siberiansSiberians call themselves Morcormonsmormonsmons many people in villages around orenburg and samara are cormonsmormons but will deny it if you ask them my grandfather was a mormon but he died long ago are paraphrases of the more common story types these rumors intrigued missionaries and latter day saint scholars alike since the limited missionary resources of the early church and the effectiveness of both tsarist and communist opposition to foreign mis- sionariessionaries kept latter day saints from establishing an official presence in russia until Gorbagorbachevgorbachovchev s reforms in the late i98os198os there is no known historical evidence that the church had any converts in russia before 1989 except for one pre soviet era family that left the country nevertheless for over a decade many latter day saint missionaries and members scholars and various russians have assumed a historical link of some sort between these reported indigenous russian Morcormonsmormonsmons and the newly arrived church of jesus christ of latter day saints some sort of link seemed plausible since locals explained that besides sharing a name the russian Morcormonsmormonsmons also often did not smoke or drink had strong family values held secret worship services and may have once practiced something like polygamy the rumors even alluded to secretly transcribed copies oftheodtheofthe book ofmorodmorofmor- mon circulating in russia for decades based on such parallels some latter day saint missionaries tried to reintroduce the local Morcormonsmormonsmons to the official church but had difficulty finding them at times they seemed ephemeral it seemed most stories of lost Morcormonsmormonsmons in russia would be best understood simply as new additions to a vibrant body of latter day saint missionary folklore about independent mormon groups in remote areas 2 such folklore arises despite the churchschurche great care to go through the front door and obey local laws for example eager young missionaries occasionally circulate rumors about secret church organizational efforts in

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countries such as the soviet union in the ipos and 19803 and china in the 1990s199os that are closed to missionaries 3 however the whole body of stories about russian Morcormonsmormonsmons cannot be readily dismissed as enthusiastic but spurious rumor the existence of Morcormonsmormonsmons in various places in russia long before 1990 is attested to in the works of early twentieth century russian religious studies scholars such as S V bulgakov and timofei ivanovich butkevich 4 in the 1950s195os russian Morcormonsmormonsmons came to the attention of john noble after world war II11 this american who was accused of spying served time in vortukaVortuka a soviet labor camp incarcerating many religious criminals near the arctic circle noble wrote assisting the mennonite bishop in the stockroom was another elderly man a mormon the cormonsmormons in soviet russia and its satellite countries are a very small group they are also relentlessly persecuted due to the fact that the belief in the book of mormon originated in the united states and that the international headquarters of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is located in salt lake city utah there were only a handful of cormonsmormons in our compound but on their days off they would always meet for meditation and prayer 5 noble suggests that the Morcormonsmormonsmons he came in contact with were the same people who bear this nickname in the united states however bulgakov and butkevich both claim that some of russia s pre 1990 Morcormonsmormonsmons notably those around samara had nothing to do historically with the utah headquartered church of jesus christ of latter day saints but got the nickname mormon only because they practiced something akin to polygamy the dated and sketchy reports of bulgakov butkevich and noble leave a host of questions unanswered about why the term mormon was and still is being used in russia to refer to various people who are not members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and who may or may not practice a related form of religion apart from the informal reports oftheodtheofthe church s missionaries no con temporary research has focused on non latter day saint Morcormonsmormonsmons in russia today As with many smaller religious groups it was not clear if or how well russia s Morcormonsmormonsmons had survived the soviet era if living repre- sentasentativestives of these groups could be contacted and interviewed perhaps a tangled knot of puzzling historical questions about the origins and current status of russian cormonsmormons could begin to be unraveled the results could provide insight into the issues of survival and representation that many marginalized religious movements have faced

latter day saint missionary reports

in late 1998 and early 1999 detailed firsthand accounts from returning latter day saint missionaries who had actually spoken with russian

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russiasdussiasRussias other cormonsMormormonsmons 9

cormonsmormons began to surface tania rands lyon now a sociology doctoral candidate at princeton compiled a wide ranging report identifying barnaalbarnaulBarnaul amskomsk orenburg and samara as likely places where contemporary russian Morcormonsmormonsmons might live she recounts a conversation she had in 1998 with a woman in samara babushka nadia who tacitly admitted to being mor- monmorfmorc but denied knowing anything about joseph smith or the book of mormon the woman balked at lyonlyons s request to attend a service explaining they were as sacred and as off limits to outsiders as latter day saint temple ceremonies 6 james scott now a brigham young university undergraduate served in the mission office of sheridan T gashler the russia samara mission president from 1998 to 20012001 at president Gashgashlerslers request elder scott wrote a careful detailed report chroniclingchronicling latter day saint missionary encounters with russians who pointed out Mormormonmons neighborhoods and in at least one oft repeated case mentioned having seen a very old hand transcribed copy ofoftheodthethe book ofofmormonmormon locals claimed Morcormonsmormonsmons had long lived in their area did not drink or smoke and worshippedworshipped secretly elder scott identified three separate areas ofsuchofsuch talk ofMorcormonsofmormonsmormonsmons in and around samara the ninth microregionMicroregion in samara itself the village ofmekhzavodofmekhzavod or nineteenth kilometer near samara city limits and the village of bogdanovkabogdanovskaBogdanovka about one hundred kilometers away A cemetery near mekhzavod displayed many examples of an unusual cross with a peaked roof see fig i p 6 from the locals the latter day saint missionaries had learned to call these mormon crosses 1173170177 with the permission oftheofodthethe area presidency president gashler assigned elders justin cooper and brent van every to bogdanovkabogdanovskaBogdanovka village in spring 1998 the Morcormonsmormonsmons proved elusive and other villagers unreceptive to the missionaries message president gashler withdrew the missionaries imme diately after seemingly hostile men in a car almost ran them down 8 president gashler has played a major role in every attempt to docu- ment and disseminate information about pre perestroika Morcormonsmormonsmons the authors research would not have been possible without his pioneering work enthusiasm and generous hospitality following the leads provided by lyon and scott we were able to spend the summer of 2000 in russia working in archives interviewing russian scholars of religion and doing fieldwork in areas where indigenous Morcormonsmormonsmons were said to be

origins of the russian Morcormonsmormonsmons latter day saints and american scholars of russian religion encounter- ing reports offreofpre 1990 russian Morcormonsmormonsmons have generally assumed them to be latter day saints who operated secretly and separately from the church of jesus christ of latter day saints during the decades of communism 9

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there are several reasons to believe that underground communities of latter day saints theoretically could have survived for many decades despite orthodox efforts to restrict religious diversity and soviet efforts to eliminate all religion limited religious practice did exist within russia religious people became adept at secrecy keeping their faith communities alive under harsh conditions we heard inspiring personal stories from molokansMolokans Pentecostpentecostalsals baptists and seventh day adventists who had survived just as precarious an existence as latter day saints would have had to endure outside russia latter day saint communities are known to have continued during long periods of isolation and separation from the official church for example from 1852 to 1892 in french polynesia 10 from 1862 to 1888 in samoa 11 and from 1924 to 1945 in japan 12 doctrinal devia- tion and reluctance to rejoin the mother churclchurch often characterized such cases it would be remarkable if long isolated russian latter day saints if indeed they existed did not show similar patterns the reemergence of pre perestroika saints would not be the first case in world history where religious groups have surfaced after long periods of secrecy in fact the whole spectrum of russian religious belief could be said to be emerging from just such a context in japan after over 250 years of living underground the kafurekakure kirishitanKirishitan hidden christians around nagasaki reemerged in 1865 much to the surprise of japanese authorities and returning christian missionaries alike 13 some of these communities reincorporated into their mother churches others continue independent today with buddhist christian syncretic traditions in such situations habits of secrecy continue despite the disappearance of oppression sometimes as mere tradition sometimes as a prudent precaution and sometimes as an integral part of the religion itself it is also noteworthy that a sacred text called the beginning of heaven and earth made up of bible stories and local religious lore circulated clandestinely among the kafurekakure kirishitanKirishitan much like the book of mormon is said to circulate among indigenous russian Morcormonsmormonsmons 14 however recent developments in the scholarly study of crypto jews provide a useful caution to anyone who might hope for the emergencereemergencere of lost Morcormonsmormonsmons from the time oftheir forced conversion or expulsion from the hispanic world in 1492 to the present jews who have secretly held onto vestiges of their religion crypto jews have allegedly been reemerging in latin america spain and portugal recently folklorist judith nielandernuelanderNuelander has pointed out serious problems in the methodology used to identify pur- ported jewish cultural traces among the longiong established hispanosHispanos of northern new mexico 15 for example four sided spinning tops among the hispanosHispanos have long been regarded as evidence of jewish origins even though many nearby non jewish cultures also use them also while

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russiasdussiasRussias other Morcormonsmormonsmons I111 I1

ashkenazi jews used dreidels they are unknown among the sephardic jews from whom crypto jew hispanosHispanos are supposed to have descended 16 nue landers evidence suggests hispano jewishness has a stronger basis in the romantic imagination ofashkenaziofashkenazi travelers to new mexico than it does in the southwestsSouthwests actual history and culture neulander warns that overeager interpretations of artifacts words and practices within a limited frame of reference often cause interpreters to overlook more plausible accountings for what seem to be emergentreemergentre cultural continuities the propensity to find what one is seeking regardless of what is actually there dearlyclearly distin- guishes the imaginative traveler from the academic ethnographer not only in terms of methodofmethod but in terms ofmotivationsofmotivations to discover 17 despite these cautions one conclusion is clear based on russian scholarship as well as nobles scotts and lyons reports russians in a few specific areas were calling particular neighbors Morcormonsmormonsmons for many years before the 19901990 arrival of latter day saint missionaries but this practice does not answer the question of origins four possibilities seem likely to explain the use of mormon in russia these possibilities are not mutually exclusive and in an extremely large country with a history of limiting the free flow of people and information several possibilities could operate simultaneously overlapping with each other we have found no conclusive disproof of any of these possibilities but the last one is supported by russian scholars and our fieldwork it is unique in its ability to account for virtually every reported case ofoffreofprepre 1990 Morcormonsmormonsmons in russia 1 missionaries tsarist russia had strict laws against non russian orthodox proselytizing that would have greatly complicated church missionary efforts such as that anticipated but not undertaken by orson hyde and george G adams who were appointed as missionaries to russia 18 by joseph smith in 1843 laws relaxed enough before the 1917 revolution to allow the johan and alma lindelof family ethnic swedes from the russian empires grand duchy of finland who moved to st petersburg to meet with a latter day saint missionary sent from sweden at their request the lindelof parents were baptized in the neva river in 1895 19 by 1905 at least two lindelof children and another finnish woman in st petersburg had joined the church As far as is known the surviving lin delffsdelofs all eventually fled russia some of them after serving time in labor camps 20 perhaps some lindelofflindelofsLindelofs made an undocumented return to russia maybe some of this wealthy family s friends or domestic help experienced unrecorded conversions and stayed in russia as an underground seed that became today s russian Morcormonsmormonsmons 112132332211 despite these possibilities latter day saint missionaries never established or maintained a continuous official presence in russia until 19901990 2 migration another possibility is that converts from other places immigrated into areas that became part of the soviet union for example

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the 1915 16 exodus of 300000300000 armeniansArmenians from turkey to the russian controlled Caucasuscaucasus2222 may have included latter day saint converts from the 18801880 1909 mission to armeniansArmenians in turkey and syria 23 halfhaifaa dozen officially organized church units now operate in the former soviet republic of armenia it is unknown whether any of these congregations include latter day saint participants in the armenian exodus or their descendantsdescendants2424 many of the early armenian converts immigrated to utah before the fall of communism east germany had several thousand latter day saints much smaller groups also existed in Polandpoland2polandopoland25225 and czechoslovakia some czech members even found a creative and modestly successful way to share their faith through yoga classes 26 conceivably the influence of these east bloc latter day saints might have extended into russia itself since at least one russian soldier joined the church in east germany in heady 1989 perhaps others were converted earlier 27 however none of these situations seems very likely to have planted seeds capable of germination in russia and there is no known evidence that they did 3 materials in countries where the church is not established small scraps of informationofinformation such as a pamphlet or a book ofofmormonmormon can arouse much curiosity and go a long way in influencing people often church literature even anti mormon literature has spread to even the most isolated places and has produced converts without the aid of official missionaries 28 in the hands of extraordinary individuals it can lead even in difficult circumstances to many conversions the sicilian protestant seminary student vincenzo di francesca found a discarded coverless book of mormon and believed it while isolated for decades from church members 2129 with only scant access to latter day saint printed materials many leaders of indigenous mormon churches in west africa from the 1950s to the 1970s baptized hundreds resulting in several thriving congregations without priesthood authority or direction from salt lake city 30 such occur- rences suggest there could have been a handful of russian converts to some aspect of mormonism between 183018301800 and 1990 especially since the sup- pression of religion in russia often increased curiosity about it however whether or not any current mormon7 groups can trace an origin tributary to such events is still entirely speculative 4 misnomer bulgakov s and Butkevicbutkevichsbutkevicushs assertion that the mor mons near samara are a group unrelated to latter day saints could explain more than just this case of russian Morcormonsmormonsmons 31 perhaps russiasdussiasRussias various mormon groups despite a number of seemingly uncanny simi- laritieslarities are scarcely related to each other let alone to the church of jesus christ of latter day saints perhaps the multiple applications of a term borrowed from english rather than the expansion of a religious movement were behind reports of russiasdussiasRus siasslas many mormon groups As our research provided more and more evidence for these possibilities our efforts shifted

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from trying to find long lost latter day saint cousins to seeking to explain how the term mormon came to be applied to disparate groups in several places in russia the history of russian religious dissent and the history of latter day saint stereotypes in russian popular culture proved to be the crucial context out ofwhichofwhich the application oftheofodthethe term mormon to multiple russian groups would grow

religious dissent in russian history in 988 klevan prince vladimir accepted orthodox christianity on behalfofthebehalf ofthe ancient rusrusy from that time orthodoxy has stood beside secu- lar leaders as a companion pillar of power yet in the seventeenth century russia saw the emergence of watershed religious changes in the i65os1650s patriarch nikon began enacting liturgical reforms designed to bring the russian orthodox church in line with what he considered to be the more authentic ritual of the greek church 32 those who opposed these reforms were called old believers since they regarded the reforms to be heretical innovations 3331 the spectrum of old believerdomBelieverdom ranged from those who retained icons priests and a hierarchy much like russian orthodoxy to those who rejected them in favor of more immediate forms of religiosity 34 fearful oftheodtheofthe official church and its supporting state old believers became secretive among many congregations today visitors are still not allowed at services despite severe persecution in the past old believers remain the second largest christian group in russia having millions of adherents 35 the religious ferment of the seventeenth century often emerging from monastic discussions but also from fervent peasants produced many groups and ideas that influenced and interpenetratedinterpenetratesinterpenetrated each other one early and particularly energetic group was the believers in christ khristovovery popularly known as khlysty36 in english flagellantsFlagellants later many other reformist or restorationist groups such as the dukhobors molokansMolokans and skoptsi37 arose in opposition to the elaborate russian orthodox rites and beliefs these groups generally lessened or rejected orthodox practices such as praying before icons crossing oneself ritualistically emphasizing the cross as the emblem of ones faith using a formulaic liturgy in difficult to understand old church slavonic believing in the miraculous powers of holy relics venerating saints and wor- shiping the mother of god mary as humanityshumanitys intercessor before christ russian religious dissenters often simplified or jettijettisonedsoned church sacraments ordinances and traditions such as baptism the eucharist marriage and funeral ceremonies and fast days as well as the churchschurche multimultilayeredlayered hier- archicalarchical structure for example the molokansMolokans milk drinkers rejected the efficacy of the rites and fast days of the orthodox church and drank milk on days when it was forbidden

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for many russian religious dissenters the bible in the hands of the believer or direct communication from the holy spirit became the princi- pal source ofguidance leaders no longer needed to be highly trained gradu- ates of theological seminaries but were chosen of god from among the more simple folk common to many of these groups was greater emphasis on inner worship scripture reading individual and congregational prayer from ones heart group singing family moral purity and belief in the rapidly approaching end of the physical world abstinence from alcoholic drinks from tobacco and frequently from meat especially pork was common even more mainstream old believers have often promoted tem- perance and antismoking and have at times refused to drink tea 38 not infrequently lay prophets within these groups claimed revelations from the spirit the content ofofwhichwhich supersupersededsupercededceded the bible or formed new scriptural text to be read in conjunction with it 39 while rejection of ordinances hierarchy and the physical world is not part of latter day saint doctrine most of the rest of this thumbnail sketch is composed of ideas with which a latter day saints spirit might resonate given the widely diverse forms of russian religious dissent one can readily comprehend how some of these forms may seem from certain angles uncannily similar to latter day saint religiosity however these practices and ideas arose independently in the context of russian religious history and not as a historical consequence of latter day saints proselytizing in russia 40

images ofamericanofamerican latter day saints in russia along with certain currents of russian religious history the shifting image of latter day saints in russian popular culture helped lead to non latter day saint people being called Morcormonsmormonsmons by the mid nineteenth century transatlantic print culture was well enough established that educated russians would have been exposed to the popular depictions of the day reports appeared of religions from abroad including the church of jesus christ of latter day saints which in russia was nearly always called the mormon church As early as the late i84os1840s the plight of latter day saints expelled from their city of Nauvoo and the westering mormon pio- neers attracted considerable interest in the russian press 41 especially sensational were accounts of the suffering and death of those crossing the plains and caught in blizzards some reporters conflated the story of the snowbound latter day saint willie and martin pioneer handcart companies with that of the donner party and erroneously reported latter day saint cannibalism 4241 in addition rumors of secret polygamy and lurid tales of sexual licentiousness in the salt lake temple titillatertitillated the russian imagination more significantly newspaper and magazine articles about cormonsmormons were especially common in the isbos1870sisyos and i88os188os when the united states

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government and citizenry most forcefully opposed plural marriage and latter day saint political autonomy 43 further arthur conan doyle s 1887 short novel about polygamy A study in scarlet krasnoepoKrasnoepo belomubebelomylomu appeared in a russian translation at the beginning of the twentieth century russian readers were captivated by the demondemonizingizing portrayal of a despotic brigham young requiring through threat of danite murder an upright widower who opposed plural marriage to give his beautiful adopted daughter to a polygamist 444 A study in scarlet featuring for the first time sherlock holmes and dr watson was far more popular in russia than in america and has remained so to the present A russian rock band called dr watson has enjoyed some success and a film based on the novel is still occasionally shown on russian television when one asks an educated russian what he or she knows about the Morcormonsmormonsmons two frequent answers are polygamy and A study in scarlet 45 in russia as elsewhere polygamy forms an ongoing central feature of the mormon stereotype however other more positive elements have come to figure prominently in more recent years these features include a strong work ethic abstinence from alcohol and tobacco strict discipline and unswerving obedience to a strong leader a reputation for building close knit mutually supportive communities and a common goal of cre- ating a materially abundant heaven on earth this perceived uniqueness has spawned articles and TV documentaries on the blossomingblossoming of utahs desert into a somewhat overstated paradise of wealth and comfort 46 along with the stereotypical images mentioned above another contemporary use of the term mormon shows a basic unfamiliarity with the american religious landscape As elsewhere in europe the russian sub- titles of popular american movies such as harrison ford s witness and randy quaidsquaide kingpin which depict stereotypes of german american pietism translate amish and mennonite as mormon in these cases mormon seems to be used broadly and clumsily to refer to an old fashioned and peculiar american religion A history of loose usage of the term mormon coupled with evolving media images of latter day saints has provided a variety of stereotypical motifs that appear in the various meanings of the term mormon as it is used today in russia russians have found a useful resource in mormon as an epithet with which to brand local groups that show features similar to stereotypes of latter day saints

how indigenous russian religious groups came to be called Morcormonsmormonsmons the successful importation ofstereotypicalofstereotypical images from america coupled with a history of indigenous religious groups with seeming similarities to

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american latter day saints has created an environment charged with the possibility of russians applying the term mormon to particular fellow countrymen even though they are not latter day saints but this possibility provides no evidence of how such connections were first made written sources are few but two religious studies scholars at orenburg state uni- verversitysity viktor vladimirovichVladimirovich kovalenko and iakov vladimirovichVladimirovich riabiriabis novich independently provide the following explanation 47 especially in the i88os188os and 189osisposespos some russian orthodox priests were much concerned about the persistence and spread of what they deemed abominable sects such as the khlystikhlysty having recently read considerably about the utah based cormonsmormons in the popular media they asked their followers questions such as why all the attention to the american Morcormonsmormonsmons why direct all your disgust and condemnation toward them we have our own cormonsmormons right here in russia for example just look at the depraved khlystikhlysty all around you theyrethey re our russian Morcormonsmormonsmormons48mons following such exhorta- tions gradually some khlystikhlysty groups became branded as Morcormonsmormonsmons a highly pejorative term villagers could have referred to their seemingly fanatical or aberrant religious neighbors as khlystikhlysty or as Morcormonsmormonsmons but the term mormon had the advantage of being foreign hence possessing a starker semantic field of that which is alien frightening and evil over time villagers apparently came to realize mormon could serve as a generic term for many dissident individuals or groups thereby obviating the need to identify them by specific name kovalenko and riabinovichs explanation seems plausible since latter day saints may have come to be associated with khlystikhlysty in particular because of all the russian dissenting religions the khlystikhlysty were the most infamously associated with sexual deviancy this widely varied movement had other facets as well that could cause russians to think oftheofodthethe latter day saints upon closer examination however the similarities between latter day saints and khlystikhlysty seem superficial and the differences more fundamental according to the still often consulted S V bulgakov a runaway soldier named danilo filippovfilipponFilippov founded the khlystikhlysty movement that at first existed within the russian orthodox church but was later expelled in the late i6oos16oos 49 filippovfilipponFilippov began his ministry by claiming the spirit ofgodof god almighty now inhabited his body soon filippovfilipponFilippov announced his assistant ivan suslov had become filled with jesus christs spirit suslov s wife became the receptacle for the mother of god and twelve followers housed the spir- its of the twelve new testament apostles many other adherents spiritually became the holy ghost and the ancient prophets while the office ofapostleofapostle and a belief in the return of ancient scriptural figures are central to latter day saint belief any idea of a spiritual indwelling of deceased persons in the living is alien to latter day saint theology

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rissridsRRus siasissidsslas other mormoMorcormonsmormonsmons 17 unlike latter day saints who believe the human soul is incomplete without a physical body a body that should be respected khlystikhlysty followed a dualistic theology in which the body is inherently and inalterably evil they were said to practice mortification of the flesh by among other ways lashing themselves with switches during worship hence the nickname khlystikhlysty flagellantsFlagellants given them by russian orthodox priests again the role of orthodox priests in applying nicknames to religious minorities appears while latter day saints require marriage for the highest level of salvation tend to have large families and regard the fall as a fortunate event unrelated to sexual sin the khlystikhlysty rejected marriage believing adam fell through sexual sin children were unavoidably born in sin and despised as shameful proof of parental guilt khlystikhlysty paralleled latter day saints in abstaining from alcohol tobacco tea and coffee but went further in tending to refuse meat especially pork as well as sugar onions garlic and potatoes most memorably and sensationally bulgakov continues at their meetings khlystikhlysty were said to practice striving or rejoicing raradenicradeniedenie 50 at these sessions one of their number was posted to prevent any outsiders from entering candles or if the adherantsadherentsadherants were in the forest campcampfiresfires were lit then rejoicing began and manifested itself in many forms such as walking shuffling dancing hopping or whirling around and around in a circle alone in pairs or as a large group holding hands while singing and praying ever more ecstatically as they felt the holy ghost descend upon them but the form of radenieradenic most talked about and condemned were the times khlystikhlysty reportedly became so physically aroused and overcome with the holy spirit that having extinguished the candle or fire they collapsed exhausted into a heap and engaged in random sexual activity avalsvalsvafnyinyinyl grechgrekh according to the reports children born from these encounters were believed to be of the holy spirit and hence acceptable despite occasional manifestations of spiritual gifts primarily in the nineteenth century latter day saint services have historically been sedate and devoid of any kind of worshipofworship practice that might be regarded as sensational or ecstatic bulgakov concludes his article on the khlystikhlysty by reporting from the end of the nineteenth century and especially during the last decade the khlystikhlysty have begun to come under the influence of rationalist sects namely the molokansMolokans and especially the Stundisstundiststs and also the tolstoyansTolstoyans and to break into various persuasions bulgakov then lists ten of these persuasions the second ofwhichofwhich are the mormons151Morcormonsmormonsmons 51 by which he alparappar entlyantly means not latter day saints but a group called samaraMorcormons mormonsmons bulgakov claims the sect arose in the i84os1840s these Morcormonsmormonsmons also prac ticelticed radenie sometimes partially unclothed polurazdayepolurazdetye those who became samara Morcormonsmormonsmons had to swear an oath to keep their rites secret and to obey no one and no authority but the living god their leader these Morcormonsmormonsmons did eat meat however and they reportedly practiced

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polygamy otherwise they led a disciplined and abstemious life bulgakov claims the name mormon is arbitrary proizvolproizvovnoenoe given to this group simply because like the american cormonsmormons they allow polygamypolygamy5252 confusion about unusual family arrangements is a key factor in the practice of calling indigenous russian groups mormon 13531153335353 historically when people have engaged in arrangements other than monogamous marriage as a matter of religious principle outsiders often mistake disciplined observance for excessive libertinism according to eugene clay an american specialist in the history of russian religious sects many unrelated groups came to be called khlystikhlysty and sexual radenieradenic may not have happened at all except in the suspicious imaginations oftonofnon khlystikhlysty russians who could not believe the christ believers extraordinary commitment to celibacy 54 khlystikhlysty sexual radenie if it even happened is only superficially similar to and uninfluenced by latter day saint plural marriage which involved establishing households after the example of biblical patriarchs contemporaneous non mormon observers oflatterof latter day saint plural marriage found it to follow and even exceed restrained victorian norms in every respect except in the number ofwivesof wives a man was allowed to marry 55 the deepest similarities between khlystikhlysty and latter day saints appear to lie in a shared negative public perception rather than in similar theology and practice A more substantial latter day saint similarity to some khlystikhlysty groups a belief in scripture in addition to the bible sheds light on still circulating reports of people having heard of or even seen a large manuscript pre ipso russian edition of the book of mormon 56 the khlystikhlysty revered their book of life commandments as scripture and clandestinely circulated hand transcribed copies 57 the book of life commandments collected sacred hymns and sayings of khlystikhlysty leaders but its believing readers never claimed it was an ancient scriptural record like the book of mormon however if the khlystikhlysty were called Morcormonsmormonsmons then people referring to the khlystikhlystykhlystys s book could have referred to the mormon book 0orr Knigakniga Morcormonamormonamona which is book of mormonofmormon in russian while rare copies of the book of life commandments still exist to our knowledge no one in our day has ever been able to produce any indigenous book entitled the book of mormon nor do the rumors of such books contain any details that might suggest a relationship to the latter day saints book of mormon even such unforgettable events as ancient israelites sailing to america or christ appearing to these people after his resurrection the khlystikhlysty have continued into contemporary times but much like the shakers in america with whom parallels seem much more apparent than with Morcormonsmormonsmons 5818 they have lost much oftheir earlier vigor and num- bers 59 the use of the term mormon to refer to khlystikhlysty related groups and even groups apparently not related to the khlystikhlysty has proven to be more tenacious than the groups themselves

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three contemporary case studies of localized usage of the term Mormmormonoif our fieldwork provided ethnographic data to corroborate the two main points of kovalenko and riabinovichs explanation that russian Morcormonsmormonsmons are historically related to khlystikhlysty and that mormon has been used as an epithet for indigenous russian religious groups due to russian familiarity with certain mormon stereotypes in bogdanovkabogdanovskaBogdanovka orenburg and mekhzavod the residents are familiar with the term mormon but use it with distinct local nuances bogdanovkaBogdabogdanovskanovka in a village just over a hundred kilometers from samara lives vasilii stepanovich safronovsafronovaSafronov a self identified holokanmolokan born in 1914 fig 2 safronovSafrosafronovanov attended several mormon worship services as a youth he recalled that a guard would be posted at the window to warn of unwanted guests the worshipers present would sing take turns reading from the bible and pray repeating sequences over and over at great length their worship service as he demonstrated included the adherents circling around the room while holding hands and rhythmically shuffling their feet as they continued to sing and entreat god at times falling on their knees to pray after a long time they might remove a few articles of cloth- ing in order to feel cooler more singing praying and circling the room would follow finally the worshippersworshippers would fall to the floor exhausted and exclaim ukhbukh du du du several times safronovSafrosafronovanov s meaning was unclear but dukhbukh in russian means spirit a word often reported as occurring in khlystikhlysty chants their candle or campfire might then be extinguished and the participants would rest for a while then the worshippersworshippers would arise and continue their praying singing and circling safronovsafronovaSafro nov s detailed description indicates these Morcormonsmormonsmons wor shipped in a way similar to the khlystikhlysty and were likely samara Morcormonsmormonsmons safronovsafronovaSafro nov and other villagers such as nikolai mikhailovichMikhailovich ovchinniakov and the village administrator said there had been many Morcormonsmormonsmons and molokansMolokans in the village in the past safronovSafrosafronovanov and ovchinniakov suggested that fairly often people in the past switched from one faith to the other generally at the time of marriage bogdanovkansBogdanovkans also suggested that the groups often became blended sharing doctrines and practices only a handful of oldMolo molokanskans and no cormonsMormormonsmons now remain in this village orenburg while in bogdanovkabogdanovskaBogdanovka Morcormonsmormonsmons are barely remembered as a part of community history in the city of orenburg Morcormonsmormonsmons are a widely discussed controversial topic everywhere people told us mor mons were bandits hooligans racketeers or mafia best to be avoided they are probably the best known group of russian Morcormonsmormonsmons today employees at a mormon owned store named stanichnyiStanichnyi meaning

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FIG 2 vasilii stepanovich safronovSafrosafronovanov in front of his house in bogdanovkabogdanovskaBogdanovka village russia As a child safronovSafrosafronovanov visited indigenous mormon services

belonging to a cossack village fig 3 directed us to the ivan ivanovich zhabinchabin home in the mormon part of town there we met tatiana mikhalmikhailovnaMikhaimikhaflovnalovna zhabinachabina ivanivans s wife who smiled and seemed surprised anyone would want to talk to her she said her husband the leader of the extended family group had gone to his ancestral village at sofievkaSofievka about two hundred kilometers away she laughed out loud when we explained that we were interested in indigenous russian Morcormonsmormonsmons she apparently

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had heard the term applied to her people before but found it amusing tatiana said her family is all russian orthodox but they do not drink alcohol smoke or use profane language she did not know why others call her family Morcormonsmormonsmons but the zhabinchabin family do not ever refer to themselves in this manner she explained they are of a cossack group kazachestvo living in a cossack village stanitsa she said we might obtain additional information next door by talking with her husbands brother and business partner aleksandr ivanovich we found aleksandr his wife daughter and her husband in their well appointed kitchen and dining area aleksandr born in 1958 did most oftheodtheof the speaking aleksandr explained he did not know why people call his family mor mons other than the fact that the zhabins abstain from alcohol and tobacco according to his recollection people have been classifying them as such since the late 19705 aleksandr and his family were unfamiliar with joseph smith or the book of mormon but he had heard of american cormonsmormons being driven out of their homes and of their migration to the west he knew there now are latter day saint missionaries in orenburg but expressed a preference to not establish contact with them he did not know anything about samaraMorcormons mormonsmons or mormon groups in other cities or villages like his sister in law he explained that his people are cossacks or his- toritoricallycally independent and free russians who refused to become serfs ivan

FIG 3 the zhabinzhabmchabin family s store min orenburg russia called mormon by other villagers the zhabins are actually russian Ortorthodoorthodoxhodo their clan may have been conflated with latter day saints because the zhabins are seen as doseclose knit hardworking and well to do

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ivanovich is a cossack ataman leader of a village or tribe ivan and aleksandr are two of eight children their father was a strict disciplinarian teaching the family to work hard be abstemious and care for each other any child who violated family standards was punished for example by being compelled to cut river ice in the bitter cold kostia the soninlawson in law said the power of family example keeps the third generation children in line you see the benefits of the lifestyle he said the benefits include not only good health but also involvement in lucrative family financial activities aleksandr and ivan came to orenburg in the late 19705 and obtained a vocational education as chauffeurs initially they both drove taxis their father meanwhile helped them obtain a rundownrun down but private home on the outskirts of town in the area in which they still live they remodeled this home and sold it for a profit then they purchased and repaired two more homes selling those profitably and buying more during Gorbachgorbachevsgorbachevaevs pereperestroikastroika it became possible to begin a private construction business which they were well poised to do they were energetic visionary and capable business mushroomed the zhabins now have purchased or built several homes apartment complexes and gasoline stations own oil wells and are ever expanding into other businesses aleksandr said his family is attempting to regenerate their ancestral villages which formerly had about a thousand farms in recent years they have built a flour mill a meat processing plant a macaroni plant a bread factory and produce storage facilities they also provide fuel for farm machinery and have reconstructed one of the two former russian orthodox village churches the kazan mother of god under the communists the church was used to store grain and was finally torn down in the 19705 aleksandr seemed forthright and unrestrained he did not seem reluctant to speak or appear to dissemble strangely it was only after our interview with the zhabinchabin family that we began to hear assessments of the orenburg Morcormonsmormonsmons more nuanced and complex than the initial reports of straightforward criminality these reports meshed with the general picture the zhabins painted ofthemselvesofthemselves and added more details several taxi drivers and academics said the mor mons are hardworking close knit and wealthy they take care of one another s needs and resolve their own problems several informants observed that the family has had some problems keeping their youth in line with their health code and keeping them from acting like tough guy out- laws but these problems have generally been resolved within the family several times we heard comments along the lines of some people say the cormonsmormons are criminals but I1 say ifeveryone in russia were like them the country would be much better off

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crime and wealth are seen as virtually inseparable in most contemporary russians minds in colloquial russian speech an ataman means a robber or gang leader as well as a cossack leader the word businessman biznesmanbiznesman in russian also has a pejorative connotation the russian term mafia is often loosely applied to anyone who is wealthy like mormon mafia is also an example of a word being reapplied from its original context to refer to a somewhat similar but historically unconnected group in another country while the orenburg Morcormonsmormonsmons are sometimes called mafia the term is usually used to refer to the new russians or new rich of the post soviet era our most knowledgeable informants made a dis- tinction between orenburg Morcormonsmormonsmons new russians and organized crime they suggested that most new russians have become much more entangled with criminal organizations than the Morcormonsmormonsmons who form only a small minority of the wealthy people in orenburg we do not know to what degree the zhabins are actually honest or dishonest in business such distinctions are difficult to make in the constantly shifting murky waters oftheofodthethe twenty first century russian economy the orenburg mor mons probably operate within the complex system of russian law when possible but work around laws they consider unnecessary or foolish they have established for themselves what could be called a tacitly sovereign autonomous zone where they operate according to their own moral but clannish set of imperatives 60 often an informant emphasized that there is no other group in orenburg quite like the Morcormonsmormonsmons many orenburg residents felt the Morcormonsmormonsmons were a fascinating and peculiar social phenomenon however the further away one gets from intimate interaction with the orenburg Morcormonsmormonsmons or the more one is suspicious of their success the easier it is to misplace them into other ready made social categories some conflate them with the mafia others conflate them with latter day saints A recent book entitled religious organizations of toviattitomiattitopiattiToViToriattiPiattiattiannlanni by russian scholar of religion vadim lakuniniakuninbakunin makes this mistake in a chapter on Morcormonsmormonsmons he gives a brief overview of latter day saint history and doctrine and then discusses the capitalist undertakings of the orenburg Morcormonsmormonsmons without realizing he has shifted from latter day saints to russian Morcormonsmormonsmons essentially everywhere cormonsmormons operate they are very active in attempting to become integrated in the life oftheodtheofthe country thus in orenburg cormonsmormons are acquiring stocks in enterprises producing natural gas entire buildings in new housing developments and infrastructure they also position their people in local governmental agencies the work of cormonsmormons in russia is carried out in strictest secrecy thus virtually nothing is known of their real goals and kinds of activity in our country 61

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we found no evidence that the zhabins were ever anything but russian orthodox or that they ever engaged in unusual sexual arrangements although they have a tight family clan organization that might be called unusual in contemporary russia it is possible that among their ancestors there may have been people involved with or confused for members of religious dissident Mormormonmons groups known to have historically been prominent in the orenburg area 62 more likely as alexandr believes the zhabins are called mormon today because of the second more recent popular perception of latter day saints as hardworking self supporting tight knit disciplined wealthy builders of a heaven on earth common reports in orenburg seem to indicate enough familiarity with late twentieth century latter day saint stereotypes to draw this parallel and apply the nickname mormon to the zhabins mekhzavod another quite unusual variant usage of the term mormon can be found in the mekhzavod fur factory suburb on the outskirts of samara this village of small but well kept private homes is a remarkable haven for religious diversity russian orthodox old believers molokansMolokans Evangeevangelicalslicals Pentecostpentecostalsals and almost certainly others live side by side in close proximity such concentrated diversity is unusual for russia paul steeves an american scholar of russian religious history suggests that the whole samara region experienced a period in its history somewhat like western new york did in the early i8oos18oos hence it still displays features of having once been a burnt over district that produced and attracted innovative and diverse forms of religious enthusiasm 63 mekhzavod is an extreme example of this tendency within the samara region many Sasamaranssamaranomarans and local latter day saint missionaries unfamiliar with the extent of mekhzavods diversity have claimed that many secretive Morcormonsmormonsmons live in the area when asking mekhzavod residents about the location of possible members of nontraditional faiths we referred to molokansMolokans old believers Evangeevangelicalslicals Morcormonsmormonsmons and Pentecostpentecostalsals each time so cormonsmormons would not stand out the large majority of the approxi- mately three dozen people we spoke with ignored the other suggestions and replied that Morcormonsmormonsmons do live in the village many pointed out houses down the street or around the corner where they thought mor mons lived the occupants of the indicated mormon houses clearly identified themselves as russian orthodox old believers molokansMolokans Evangeevangelicalslicals or Pentecostpentecostalsals but never claimed to be Morcormonsmormonsmons often people would say something like 1 I am not a mormon but the person in that house around the corner is at the indicated house we only heard again 1I am not a mormon but the person in that house down the street might be yurii the man most often referred to as a mormon was actually

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the local pastor of an american style nondenominational evangelical christian group yurii was out of town but we met his family and observed visiting pastors from america we also spoke with a local member ofyuriis church the vehicle and head of this follower were adorned with such unmistakably american pop evangelical paraphernalia as an english language go with jesus hes 1 bumper sticker and a you are always a winner with jesus christ baseball hat this group was clearly neither indigenous samara Morcormonsmormonsmons nor latter day saints we could discern no special reason for people to claim to be of anotherofanother nontraditional faith if they really were Morcormonsmormonsmons all would have had comparable reasons under the soviets to be wary of disclosingofdisclosing their affiliation apparently the villagers used the term mormon to identify any unknown religious other for them mormon had become a generic term now largely pejorativenonnonpejorative but implying someone who is devout possibly clan destine peculiar and not one of us however the fact that mekhzavod residents were very familiar with the term mormon while others in the samara region were much less so did seem to indicate that some group called Morcormonsmormonsmons may have once lived there in surrounding villages we were mostly told there are no mor mons here one woman in nearby starosemeikinostaroserneikino said she knew a mormonbutmormon but took us to a baptists house another said go to mekhzavod there are lots of cormonsmormons there despite our success in speaking with many people from formerly suppressed religious groups one mekhzavod man who owned a building rumored to be a mormon church fig 4 which he denied told us he felt sorry for us he explained our task would be very difficult since Morcormonsmormonsmons would be reluctant to tell us about their religion because they had been oppressed in the past another resident explained there are both molokansMolokans and cormonsmormons here but the mor mons will not let you come to their meetings this secrecy would be expected of samaraMorcormons mormonsmons or khlystikhlysty our efforts to meet mekhzavods Morcormonsmormonsmons proved fruitless but the recollections of dan jones one of the first latter day saint missionaries in samara suggest we may have missed something elder joness missionary journal entries reflect his focus on proselytizing at the time and mention little more than we then went to visit the mormonsweMormonMorcormonsmormonsmonssWewe talked with them about the church for a while and then decided it wasiawasiowaslowasngasn t worth it to go out there 64 jones remembers that in may 1993 when russian curiosity about things western and religious was still high a small group of people from mekhzavod called Morcormonsmormonsmons sought him out to discuss religious matters jones recalls they did call themselves mormoneMormormonymony but im not really clear as to whether they originally called themselves that or if they adopted the name that others gave them 65 only after listening to the missionaries

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FIG 4 A view of mekhomekh7mekhzavodabodavod showing a building rumored to be a mormon meetinghouse

message did the Morcormonsmormonsmons reluctantly explain that their religion had a leader or chief was strictly off limits to outsiders and did not proselytize even members own children were not told of their faith until they were initiated into its absolutely secret practices some of their group opposed the delegationdelegations s decision to contact the latter day saint missionaries in meeting with jones these mekhzavod mormon delegates showed little interest in the book of mormon or joseph smith but were keen to know about secret latter day saint temple ceremonies of course jones could not give them the details that they wanted and they left reluctant to make any further appointments eventually jones stopped visiting them his is the only known detailed firsthand account of meeting known mor mons in mekhzavod people who were probably descendants of samara Morcormonsmormonsmons 0766116666 jones received the impression that the delegation may have been hoping to fill in gaps in their understanding of their own religion or to find information that may have been lost over the years however they quickly concluded that the latter day saint missionaries were not adherents of the same faith and decided to have nothing more to do with them apparently from the point ofviewofvieyof view of these mekhzavod Morcormonsmormonsmons latter day saint missionaries represented the other Morcormonsmormonsmons

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conclusions these three case studies show a variety of ways the term mormon is used in contemporary russia local understandings of grave markers in a cemetery near mekhzavod illuminate several broader issues of representation and misinterpretation concerning russiasdussiasRussias indigenous Morcormonsmormonsmons in this cemetery along with the predominant russian orthodox crosses and abstract geometric soviet era markers are found many perhaps more than a hundred triangle capped crosses the mormon crosses mentioned in elder scotts report see fig i1 indeed the surnames on these crosses can be found among the mekhzavod residents identified as Morcormonsmormonsmons however two sextonssextone and the cemetery director the latter a practicing old believer all confirmed that a peaked roof cross indicates an old believer grave the rogozhskoe cemetery in moscow at the spiritual center of old believerdomBeliever dom contains similar triangular crosses almost exclusively fig 5 A priest on duty confirmed that peaked crosses are distinctively old believer but ascribed no special significance or function to the design except perhaps to keep water off it is not clear how old believer crosses in mekhzavod came to be called mormon crosses perhaps the local penchant for identifying as mormon anything religiously unfamiliar is responsible whatever the reason

FMFIG 5 peaked roof crosses in Mosmoscowscows rogozhskoe cemetery these crosses indicate graves of old heversbelieversBe not latter day saints

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latter day saint missionaries have interpreted these crosses as a sign oftheodtheof the existence of long lost mormon cousins in russia it may seem ironic that latter day saints who do not use crosses have interpreted a peculiar cross as a sign of Mormormonnessmonness however the mormon cross looks less croscrosslikecrosslineslike than traditional crosses and could be interpreted as the syncretic accommodation of a religious group trying to survive underground or the story ofmekhzavodsofmekhzavods mormon crosses could also be interpreted as a symbolic reminder of the ease with which artifacts historical significance can be misinterpreted tania rands lyons suggests that the latter day saints long curiosity about russia speculation about the whereabouts oftheofodthethe lost ten tribes and the legacy of the cold war have made russia into a vast screen onto which some latter day saint imaginations project wondrous speculations 67 such suggestions may be true however it was not any naive gullibility or theological agendas on the part of american missionaries that originated the widespread latter day saint folk belief in secret russian latter day saints such a belief came from a quite reasonable process of deduction when confronted with solid evidence and firsthand reports provided by native russians of people who do not smoke or drink who worship separately or in secret who might have additional scripture and who are called mor mons by their neighbors the simplest explanation would seem to be that long lost religious cousins had been found the problem arises not from gullibility but from missionaries focused range of language proficiency and lack of time to explore esoteric cultural background knowledge even non latter day saint informed expert observers such as vadim laIakunin john noble and scholars of russian religion have assumed russian mor mons and latter day saints are the same or are historically related the russian mormon phenomenon ultimately has less to do with latter day saints in the past or present than it has to do with the way images and information about minority religions circulate in local settings in a modernizing world popular media reports in russia fictional misrep- resenresentationtation by doyle clumsily subtitled movies and orthodox and communist interference with communication in general and discourse about religion in particular all these have provided local russian communities with the opportunity to work out peculiar shared understandings of the term mormon that meet their particular needs for most russians mormon has meant little or nothing it is an insignificant linguistic resource for others it has meant something vaguely distant religiously subversive and negative for others in special historical and geographic circumstances mormon has been a nickname sometimes interchangeable with others referring to particular groups such as latter day saints khlystikhlysty old believers and teetotaling cossacks usage has varied from place to place and time to time

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As a more unfettered media culture emerges in russia the complexity of the geographically diverse usage of the term mormon will likely undergo further adaptation local folk usages may work their way into print and television which will in turn influence how local usages develop vadim laIakunins mistake of assuming the orenburg Morcormonsmormonsmons and the church ofjesus christ of latter day saints are one and the same gives a new nuance to the term mormon that may or may not be picked up elsewhere in russia often when russians use mormon they are not referring to latter day saints but may not realize this these findings shed new light on the provocative statements made several years ago by the then politically emer- gent general alexandr lebed who called cormonsmormons slime and mold 3368116868 these statements raised concern in the american media about russiasdussiasRussias fragile religious freedoms but to whom did the general intend to refer and how clear in his mind were the distinctions between the various kinds of Morcormonsmormonsmons in his own country

summary this study presents a picture of the shifting semantic domain of the term mormon in contemporary russia perhaps the simplest way of de- scribing what we have found is that some russians especially those in mekhzavod are using the term mormon in a way somewhat similar but more focused and varied to the way latter day saints once used the term gentile if the tenacious hold of columbus s misapplication of the word indian can serve as a guide mormon may well retain multiple meanings in russia indefinitely however the inherent limitations of this project should qualify any of its conclusions there are 140 million people eleven time zones and thousands of isolated villages in russia very likely there are meanings and uses of the term mormon in russia still unknown to westerners 1169 future research may yet reveal actual hand transcribed copies of the book ofmorofodmormor- mon and people in addition to the lindelofflindelofsLindelofs who display clear historical and doctrinal connections to latter day saints however until that hap- pens the borrowing of a term inspired by popular stereotypes of marginal religious groups rather than the clandestine expansion and rediscovery ofa lost branch of latter day saint religion best explains the ongoing use of the term mormon to refer to russians who are not members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints

eric A eliason eric eliasonbyuedu is a folklorist and assistant professor of english at brigham young university and gary browning gary browningbyuedu is professor ofrussianrusslanofrussian at Brighabrighamyoungbrigham youngmYoung university earlier versions ofthisorthisofthis paper were

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presented at the 2000 mormon history association meeting in copenhagen special thanks are due eugene clay doris dant jean francois mayer eileen barker paul steeves ed cutler and stephanie smith eliason for providing valuable suggestions funding for research in russia was provided by the brigham young university college of humanities the david M kennedy center for international studies and dr brobrowningsings BYU general education professorship

1 gary browning russia and the restored gospel salt lake city deseret book 19973441997 344 45- 2 such stories circulate in many areas where latter day saint missionaries are active for some examples from japan see the lost tribes of israel web page by folklorist D glenn ostlund httpwwwphpindianaedudostlundlost tribeshtm 3 on latter day saint missionary folklore see william A wilson on being human the folklore ofmormon missionaries utah state university faculty honor lecture logan utah state university press 1981 and LDS world gems LDS inter- net hoaxes and mormon urban legends httpwwwldsworldcomgemsul for a more appreciative look at latter day saint missionary folklore see D glenn ostlund mormon missionary folklore virtual web archive httpphpindianaedu dostlundmissionhtm 4 S V bulgakov nastolnaia kniga fila sviashchenno tserkovno sluzhitelei schismsschismaSchisms herheresiesesies sects that go against christian and orthodox teachings 1913 reprint moskva moskovskii Patriarchpatriarchalat 1993 21671 timofei ivanovich butkevich obzor russkikh sekt i ikhbikh tolkov A survey of russian sects and their beliefs kharlovkharkovKhar kov tipografiia gubernskogo pravleniia iglo1910 597 600600goo also concludes the samara Morcormonsmormonsmons had nothing to do with joseph smith 5 john noble and glenn D everett I1 found god in soviet russia new york st martins press 1959 126141126 141 6 tania rands lyon soviet Morcormonsmormonsmons A preliminary report february 1999121999 12 manuscript in possession oftheofodthethe authors 7 james wesley scott nineteenth kilometer early converts in russia mission historical report russia samara mission june 1998 in possession of gary browning 8 sheridan T gashler interview by authors may 16 2000 9 stetson university scholar ofrussian religion paul steeves telephone interview by eric A eliason july 25 2000 lo1010 R lanier britsch unto the islands ortheof the sea A history ortheof the latter day saints in the pacific salt lake city deseret book 1986 16 23 ii britsch unto the islands 349 54 12 R lanier britsch from the east the history of the latter day saints in asia 1851 16996 salt lake city deseret book 1998 768476 84 91 13 special thanks is due van gessel for guiding us to scholarship on the kafurekakure kirishitanKirishitan of japan A useful book on this topic was stephen turnbull the kafurekakure kirishitanKirishitan ofjapanof japan A study of their development beliefs and rituals to the present day richmond surrey united kingdom the japan library 1998 japans shusaku endo regarded by many to be one of the worlds greatest fiction writers wrote several stories specifically about japanese hidden christians for example see mothers in van C gessel trans stained glass elegies new york dodd and mead 1985 and the final martyrs in van C gessel trans the final martyrs new york new directions 1993 14 christal whelan trans the beginnings ofheavenof heaven and earth the sacred book ofjapansof japans hidden christians honolulu university ofhawaii press 1996 15 judith neulander the crypto jewish canon choosing to be chosen in millennial tradition jewish folklore and ethnology review 18 nos 1 2 1996 19 58 this

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issue ofthe review is dedicated to the question ofofcryptocrypto jews and contains articles and letters expressing many facets of this topic 16 nielandernuelanderNuelander crypto jewish canon 22 17 neulander crypto jewish canon 23 18 browning russia and the restored gospel 4 5 19 A H lund introduction of the gospel into russia st petersburg russia june 181818951895 millennial starstarry57 no 26 june 271895 413 15 20 browning russia and the restored gospel 10 12 21 one slim possibility is that the much wandering elder mischa markow who preached in most of easternofeastern europe and even one small part ofrussiaofrussia at the turn oftheofodthethe nineteenth century may have converted some in russia see richard 0 cowan mischa markow mormon missionary to the balkans BYUbyustudiesstudies 11 no i1 1970 92 98 and william H kehr missionary to the balkans mischa markow ensign lo1010 no 6 june 1980 29 32 22 gerard challandChaliand and jeanpierrejean pierre drageaurageau the penguin atlas ofdiasporas new york viking penguin 1995 83 89 23 deseretdeseretnewsnews 1999 20002000 church almanac salt lake city deseret news 1998 272 the church of jesus christ of latter day saints information an informational brochure published by the church of jesus christ of latter day saints in europe no other publication information available 1997 7j 24 in samara today latter day saint missionaries report disproportionate interest among armenian immigrants however this seems to be unrelated to the fact that russian scholar of religion S V bulgakov mentions caucasus Morcormonsmormonsmons in his still consulted nastoi naia 21636 25199925.1999 2000 church almaaimaalmanacac 377 26 olga kovarovakovacovaKovarova campora saint behind enemy lines salt lake city deseret book 1997 6060 63 27 thomas F rogers A call to russia glimpses of missionaryofmissionary life provo utah BYU studies 19991531999 153 28 latter day saint educator and founding BYU president karl G maeser was first attracted to the church by reading between the lines of an anti mormon tract see deseret news 1997 98 church almanac salt lake city deseret news 1996 329 29 forty year wait for baptism in hartman and connie rector eds no more strangers salt lake city bookcraft 1971 82 89 30 for numerous stories of such conversions see E dale lebaron all are alike unto god salt lake city bookcraft 19901990 and alexander B morrison the dawning ofaof a brighter day the church in blackafricablack africa salt lake city deseret book 19901990 while explaining the possibility of latter day saint ideas in pre 1990 russia to a professor of religion at amskomsk state university we learned that he had never heard of indigenous Morcormonsmormonsmons in particular but that the phenomenon of the individual prophetleaderprophet leader was common in relatively religiously diverse and active siberia he said he would not be surprised at all if latter day saint ideas ended up in the siberian religious mix it seemed provocative to us that many of the thousands of german immigrants to siberia came from regions of high missionary activity and success even though most had come from before the arrival ofmormonism in germany some came after no official russian translation of the book of mormon or other church materials appeared until 19801980 but materials in german had been available since 1852 31 scholars in the brigham young university germanic and slavic languages department had been aware of the bulgakov suggestion that the samara Morcormonsmormonsmons

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were unrelated to the church ofofjesusjesus christ oftatteroflatter day saints but bulgakov did not suggest that all Morcormonsmormonsmons in russia were unrelated to the in church in america bulgakov nastolnaia 21636 we also considered the possibility that mormon was by sheer coincidence a native russian word but discounted this hypothesis due to lack of evidence 32 michael S flier court ceremony inm an age of reform patriarch nikon and the palm sunday ritual in religion and culture in early modern russia and ukraine ed samuel H baron and nancy shields kollman dekalb northern illinois university press 1997 73 95 33 royboyrroyrR robson old believers in modern russia dekalb northern illinois university press 1995 4 F E melnikovMelmmeim kov kratkaiaKratkaia istoriiaistoruaistoisso tilatiiariia drevlepravoslavnoi staroobnadstaroobriad cheskoicheskov tserkvi A brief history of the ancient russian old believer church barnaulbarnaalBarnaul BGPU 9991999 22 34 34 robson old believers in modern russia 127 29 35 one estimate puts the number of old believers in contemporary russia at six teen million lyudmila vorontsova and sergei filatov paradoxes of the old believer movement religion state and society 28 march 2000 53 36 recent scholarship suggests that khlystikhlysty is better not capitalized since those referred to by the term are not one group but many unrelated ones however we kept the traditional capitalization used in most of the sources we consulted eugene clay email to eric eliason august 16 2000 see also eugene clay the theological origins of the christ faithfalth khnstovshchinakhristovshchina russian history 15 spring 1988 21 41 and eugene clay literary images oftheodtheofthe russian flagellantsFlagellants 1861 1905ig 05 russian history 24 winter 1997 45425 39 37 on the skopsti who emerged from the khlystikhlysty see laura engelsteinEngelstem castration and the heavenly kingdom A russian folktale ithaca cornell university press 1999 26 38 robson old believers in modern russia 96107 14 i2816116314128161163 39 the skopstiSkopsti for example saw the bible as but a dead letter engelstein castration and the heavenly kingdom 19 40 this sketch oftheofodthethe history oftonofnonofnon orthodox russian religious groups benefited from consulting the following works baron and kollman religion and culture in early modern russia judith deutsch kornblatt and richard F gustafson eds russian relirellreilrollroii biousgious thought madison university of wisconsin press 1996 sabrina P ramet nihil obstatonstat religion politics and social change in east central europe and russia durham and london duke university press 1998 jerry G pankhurst religious culture in russian culture at the crossroads paradoparadoxes ofpostcommunistofpostcommumst consciousness ed dmitridmitrl N shalmshalin boulder westviewWestview press 19961271996 127 56 A I1 kiikilklibanovklibanowKlikjibanovbanov history of religiousofreligious sec- tatariantarlantarianismnanismism in russia 186os91718605 1917 oxford pergamon press 1982 41 V skvortsov deianuadeladeianiiaDeianiianila 3 90go vserosiiskago missionerskago sedase da v kadanikazani pro ceedings of the third allaliail russia missionary congress in kazan kiev I1 I1 chokolovChokolov 18971151897 iiaii5 42 victor vladimirovichVladimi rovich kovalenko interview by authors may 122 2000 43 see thomas G alexander utah the right place the official centennial history salt lake city gibbs smith 1995995075175 7878186186 20202 44 for an overview ofofantiefantiantiantl mormon fiction of the time see leonard J arrington and jon haupt intolerable zion the image of mormonism in nineteenth century american literature western humanities review 22 summer 1968 243 6060 and terryl L givens the viper on the hearth Morcormonsmormonsmons myths and the construction of heresy new york oxford university press 1997 97 120

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45 in fact russian academics twice lectured us on how western literary scholars do not fully appreciate the genius of doyle and why we should include him in our literary canon where he belongs 46 browning russia and the restored gospel 300 47 kovalenko interview lakoviakovdakov vladimirovichVladimi rovich riabmovichriabinovich interview by authors may 13 2000 48 while actual documentation of this rhetorical move has been hard to come by a similar invocation of the united states as example happened as old believers pushed for legal bans on tobacco after the passage oftheofodthe the act of tolerationoftoleration in 1905 ifmichiganifmichigan texas and illinois can ban smoking why can t we in russia argued one writer S bv aragivragi chelovechestva enemies of humanity zlatostrui no 2 1910 33 as quoted in robson old believers in modern russia lioiioilono 49 the oral tradition among Filipfilippovfihppovfilipponpov s followers suggests that he began his mini-mini stry in 1645 but available historical documents suggest a later date eugene clay repression of matriarchy 7 the cult of the kostroma peasant danilo Filipfdippovichfilippovichpovich 16501650 1850 manuscript inm authors possession 50 bulgakov nastoi nalanaianaianala 21636 51 bulgakov nastolnaia 2167111671 butkevich obarobmrobzor russkikh sekt i ikhbikh tolkov 597 600600goo also concludes the samara Morcormonsmormonsmons had nothing to do with joseph smith 52 bulgakov nastoi nalanaiandianaianala gog21636636 53 latter day saints khlystikhlysty and samara Morcormonsmormonsmons are just a few of many christian groups to have engaged in religiously motivated sexual arrangements other than monogamous marriage see for example lawrence foster religion and sexuality three american communal experiments in the nineteenth century oxford oxford university press 1981 J gordon melton encyclopedia ofamericanof american religions ath4th ed detroit gale research 1993 and the encyclopedic handbook of cults in america new york garland press 1986 though nineteenth century latter day saints are arguably the best known polygamists plural marriage inspired by biblical patriarchs is not unique to latter day saints A small movement among evangelical protestants claims the practice of polygamy is still ildiidvalidlid today see christian polygamy marriage AuthorauthorizediMd by god httpwwwpolygamynethttp www polygamy net and the truth bearer httpwwwthestandardbearercomhttp www thestandardbearer corncormcomm acts24i4exodus2iiotruthbeareracts2414exodus21lotruthbearer 54 clay literary images 425 39 55 eric A eliason curious gentiles and representational authority in the city of the saints religion and american culturecultures11 summer 2001 forthcoming daniel sylvester tuttle missionary to the mountain west reminiscences of episcopalof1piscopal bishop daniel S tuttle 1866 1886 salt lake city university of utah press 1987 307 15 B camioncarmon hardy solemn covenant the mormon polygamous passage urbana university of illinois press 1991992 84 126 56 the first official translation of the book of mormon into russian appeared in 9801980 57 V D avdeevavseev bibliiabiblinaBibliia I1 knstovoverykristovoveryKristovovery inm aremiavremia i Bibdibinaliiaillailia comp V M riabikov cheliabinskchehabinsk luzhluahI h uralurai sk 1978 91 58 the khlystikhlysty schismatics the skoptsiSkopskoptsytsi were awareare of and approved of the com- parison of their own movement to that of the shakers who were also known for their dualism renunciation ofseiofofsexsex ecstatic forms of worshipofworship following ofmodernofmodern prophets and reputation for sober industriousness N M ladnntseviadrintsev russkaiaRusskaia obshchina v tiurfiur me I1 ssylke st petersburg mongerovsknmorigerovskii 8721872 257 as quoted in engelsteinEngel stem castration and the heavenly kingdom 20

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59 kovalenko interview 6060 eric eliasonsEliasons idea of a tacitly sovereign autonomous zone emerged as a reac- tion to radical aesthetic philosopher hakim beys notion of a temporary autonomous zone while bey describes his notion as an ultimately indescribable area of creative chaos apart from everyday rules and authority the tacitly sovereign autonomous zone is an island or nexus of order and authority within a larger context of chaos and com- peting authority claims hakim bey TAZ the temporary autonomous zone ontol- ogical anarchy poetic terrorism brooklyn autonomediaAuton omedia iggi1991 61 vadim laIakunin religioznye organizaorganizatsietsie v toritorltoliattitoniattitoviattiToViToliattiattlatti religious organizations of toliattiTopoliattiliatti toliattiTopoliattiliatti soremenniksovremennikSov 1999 39139 translation by gary browning 62 browning russia and the restored gospel 344 45 63 paul steeves telephone interview by eric A eliason july 25 2000 64 daniel jones missionary journal june 242419931993 65 daniel jones email to gary browning june 9 2000 66 daniel jones email to gary browning june 13 2000 67 tania rands lyon whats in a name the discovery ofmormonof mormon communities in russia 3 manuscript in authors possession 68 lebed vows to cleanse russia of religious filth combined associated press andnd reuters deseret news archive june 27 1996 httpwwwdesnewscom agicgi binlibstory statedn96&96o6270043 69 almost immediately upon returning gary received an email from a latter day saint missionary at the novosibirsk office mentioning an old mormon village in altai province that we had not found let alone heard of despite spending a week there elder beaglybeagle russian novosibirsk mission office email to gary browning may 12 2000

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